15 Minute Writer

How to Write: It Takes Courage to Write in a New Area

May 30th, 2011 Posted in Overcome Writing Fears, Writing Encouragement

Maybe you are new to the writing world. Maybe you are good at business writing and you would like to learn how to write a short story or even a book. Maybe you have always written non-fiction stories but you would like to try fiction stories.

Regardless of your writing or non-writing experience, it takes courage to launch into a new area. You feel insecure and uncertain about trying something new. It’s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. You have two options. You can shrink back into what is familiar to you or you can step out into the unknown.

There are normal fears that come whenever you launch into new territory. I don’t care how competent you are in your present area, something new usually requires courage.

I know experienced writers who have written many books and yet they still feel those feelings of fear and insecurity when they start on a new book. So you are normal!

The key is not to give into those fears but to proceed in spite of them.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.  ~Ambrose Redmoon

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying something new. Convincing yourself of this can be a challenge.  Think of it this way, you cannot fail because even if you go down a path and you find you are not good at it or it’s not for you, at least you have learned something by trying. You will have gained some knowledge that you may be able to use in some other arena.

You think you protect yourselves by not trying something new but the truth is you hinder your growth. You only grow when you stretch yourselves to try something new. You do ourselves a favor when you step out into new territory because you give yourselves an opportunity to grow.

The worse thing you can do is to fear your fears. Accept the fact that you are going to feel fear and it’s okay. Don’t let your fears hold you back. Embrace them and go into the new territory. Regardless of what happens you will be a better person for it.

Take a course or read a book in your new area of writing interest and begin to practice what you learn. Press into that new arena. Go for it!

P.S. How about you? What areas of writing would you like to try? What holds you back? Share your thoughts in the comments below.